CHADRON, Neb. Western Colorado had a strong start to the 2023 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships – ending day one with, one champion, seven all-conference honors and eight runners moving on to the finals.

The top-three finishers in each event are named all-conference first-team selections, while the fourth, fifth and sixth-place finishers are tabbed all-conference second-team. For relay events, the first-place team is named to the first team and the second-place team is named to the second team.
 
CHAMPION

• Ismael Dembele did his thing in the men's long jump leading to him earning first-place, a fourth all-time and provisional qualifying mark of 7.35m (24-01.50).

FIRST TEAM ALL-CONFERENCE

• Jacob Hernandez kicked things off for the Mountaineers, earning the first all-conference honors for Western, by coming in third-place in the men's 10,000m with a time of 32:07.95.
• Ali Aldrich shined in the women's hammer throw coming in second-place with a throw of 52.22m (171-04).

SECOND TEAM ALL-CONFERENCE

• Will Johnson also had a solid performance in the men's 10,000m, crossing the finish line with a time of 32:16.79, earning him fifth-place.
• Joining the trend of Mountaineers shinning in the 10,000m, Olivia Kaiser had an amazing performance in the women's 10,000m, crossing the finish line in a personal best time of 37:58.24, which earned her fifth-place.
• Earning a pair of second team all-conference honors in the women's long jump, Eireann Donohoe leaped to a distance of 5.42m (17-09.50) earning fifth-place and Cora Olson leaped to a distance of 5.31m (17-05.25) earning sixth.

MOVING ON TO THE FINALS

• Kaiya Firor and Kelia Portis shined among their competition in the women's 400m hurdles prelims, flying down the track and crossing the finish line in first (1:02.39) and second place (1:03.06).
• In the men's 1,500m prelims Western will have two athletes – Simon Kelati and Tyler Nord – running in the finals, as Kelati crossed the finish line in third-place (3:53.94) and was followed by Nord in fourth (4:01.09).
• Similar to the men's 1,500m prelims, the women's 1,500m prelims was a solid race for the Mountaineers – due to the fact three Mountaineers are headed to the finals. Leah Taylor was the first Western runner to cross the finish line in fifth-place (4:30.00), followed by Allison Beasley in seventh (4:30.17) and Emma Kjellsen in ninth in a personal best time of 4:31.09.
• Myia Dantzler represented Western well in the women's 100m prelims, as she crossed the finish line in seventh-place (12.09).

NOTABLE PERFORMANCES

• While Robert Scott didn't earn all-conference honors, he did score points for the Mountaineers and earn a personal best time of 32:27.20, coming in eighth-place in the Men's 10,000m.
• Tyler Nelson earned Western a point in the men's hammer, with a throw of 51.48m (168-11).

UP NEXT
The Mountaineers will be back on the track tomorrow (Apr. 29), competing in day two of the 2023 RMAC Outdoor Track and Field Championships starting at 2 p.m., with the women's discus.